Method and apparatus for forming metal blanks



May 21, 1957 e. MELIDONIS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING METAL BLANKS Filed Jan. 26. 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. @IOV A r/N1 51 [DON/S )Qrrofiuy May 21, 1957 G. MELIDONIS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING METAL BLANKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 26, 1953 J RM m 0 r TW M m mm m T m A NIETHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING METAL BLANKS Giovanni Melidonis, Milan, Italy, assignor to Fabbrica Italiana di Posateria e Oggetti -di Metallo in Genera G. B. Izar, Milan, Italy Application January 26, 1953, Serial No. 333,064 Claims priority, application Italy January 30, 1952 3 Claims. (Cl. 29-413) For the manufacture of hollow cylindrical articles with the extrusion method and particularly to manufacture collapsible tubes for tooth-paste, for foodstuffs, for medicinals or the like, one may stamp out from sheet or band of convenient thickness small cylinders having suitable diameter and height, and then subject these small cylinders to the extruding operation, which creates the container having a closed or perforated bottom or projecting extensions as the case may be, in accordance with the requirements of the proposed use.

The stamping out of these small cylinders and small discs from sheet metal produces waste which in theory is little more than but in practice, for technological reasons, is usually as high as or more. Instead of using sheet metal as a starting material, it is possible to use rolled material having rectangular section, which is generally of lower cost per unit weight as compared with sheet metal; however, in stamping out from such rolled material a single row of small discs, the theoretical waste of material amounts to 27% and in practice to more than whence the advantage of lower cost of the starting material is lost.

The present invention has the object of rendering possible the utilization of rolled material for the manufacture of hollow bodies by extrusion, by not only reducing the percentage of waste in stamping out as compared to that produced with sheet metal, but by eliminating such waste completely.

According to the invention, the aforementioned blanks are not obtained by stamping, but by deformation and subsequent breaking of the rolled material.

In particular, a rolled metallic material having rectangular section and width smaller than the external diameter of the hollow body to be obtained, is subjected to deformation by compressing portions spaced from one another of its smaller faces symmetrically towards the axis of the rolled material while this is made to advance while being guided loosely on its two larger faces. The rolled material shaped in this way is then broken in correspondence with its restricted sections resulting from that deformation.

The invention also concerns a device for carrying out this process. Said device comprises two coupled rollers arranged to turn at the same peripheral speed and provided with peripheral grooves facing each other and of a width slightly larger than the thickness of the profiled material and of a depth larger than half the width of the profiled material; the bottom of each of these grooves is provided with projections over their entire length, which projections extend almost to the periphery of the roller.

One example of the method and means for proceeding according to the present invention is illustrated merely by way of explanation in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view, partly broken away, of the device in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a section along line A--A of Fig. 1;

Patented May 21, 1957 Fig. 3 is a section along line B-B of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section along line C-C of Fig. 1.

As it appears from the diagrammatical illustration in the drawings, the device is composed of a support 1, which supports two shafts 2 and 3 driven respectively by the gears 4 and 5.

On the shaft 3 there is fitted a disc 6 provided peripherally (none of its faces with trapezoidal recesses 7 separated by tip 21; against this face there is applied by means of screw 19 a disc of equal diameter 8.

On'the shaft 2 there is fitted a disc 14 and to this disc there is connected, by means of screws 20, a ring 9 carrying on one of its faces pentagonal projections 10, the

shape of which is shown in Fig. l, the tips 22 which extend to within the region of the peripheral circumference of the ring 9; in the spaces existing between said projections 10 there are mounted radially slidable prismatic pieces 11, which by means ofa' groove provided in the proximity of one of their ends, engage with an eccentric circular n'b' 12 provided on a projection 13 0f the plate 1.

The disc 6 and ring 9 and the respective discs 8 and 14 applied thereto have such diameters a to be tangential and are so arranged that the respective tips 21 and 22 pass in alignment in proximity to each other, when thediscs are rotated.

In front of one portion of the periphery of the rotating unit 9-14 there is fixed on the plate 1 a curved member 15 provided with a groove 16, which lies in the plane of the projections 10 and of the slidable members 11.

One part of the end of member 15 lies farther from the point oftangency of the two discs, extending, on the side of the groove 16, with a portion 17 bowed towards the plate 1, as indicated at 17 in Fig 4.

The operation of the device hereinbefore' described is as follows:

After starting rotation by any suitable means (not shown) of the two shafts 2 and 3 by means of the gears 4 and 5, a rolled flat piece of metal 18 is introduced into the jaws formed of disc 6 and the ring 9, viz. in correspondence with the peripheral cavities mentioned hereinbefore. The section of said rolled piece is rectangular; its thickness is smaller than the thickness of the trapezoidal cavities 7 and smaller than the thickness of the projections 10 and its width is smaller than double the depth of said cavities 7. The rolled piece 18 is therefore gripped by the tips 21 and 22 and is squeezed and shaped in correspondence with said tips and enters into the subsequent cavities of the discs where it remains with a little play, assuming the shape of a chain of hexagons connected with one another by thin webs of residual material.

It should be noted that at the point of tangency between the two discs the prismatic pieces 11 are in a completely retracted position towards the spindle 2, by action of the eccentric rib 1'2. V

The shaped rolled piece leaving the point of tangency of the two rollers is held adherent to the ring 9 and is made to pass into the groove 16 of the member 15. During this travel the prismatic pieces 11 are gradually displaced by the rib 12 towards the periphery of the disc and push the shaped profiled piece outwards in this Way as can be seen in Fig. 1.

After covering about half turn, the profiled piece lies completely outside the respective cavity of the ring 9 and is guided exclusively by the groove 16. Arriving at the end of said groove, it is bent laterally by action of the curved end 17 and this new deformation of the profiled piece causes it to break at its points of restriction so small roughly hexagonal prisms 23 are detached, which then fall for instance through a hole 20 provided in the plate 1 into a collector not represented in the drawing.

'for carrying out the method may be of different shape;

for'instance, the mechanism, for extracting the shaped rolled piece from the ring 9 may be of diiferent shape, the separation of the various pieces 23 from one another may be efifected by members placed in the very disc, or the breaking'in correspondence with the restricted zones of the rolled piece may be effected by bending the shaped rolled piece in another manner; many other contrivances 'and variants are possible as will be evident to one skilled in the art, with the aid of the preceding description and without departing from the scope of the present invention.

What I claim is: e

1. A device for forming successive blanks to be used in the forming of hollow bodies therefrom; saiddevice comprising two rollers mounted for rotation about parallel axes, and in rolling contact with each other, each of said rollers having a circumferential groove of rectangu- 'lar axial cross-section and spaced apart, wedge-shaped projections reaching out to the periphery of the related roller'so that radially opening, trapezoidal cavities are defined between the successive projections in the groove, whereby a strip of rectangular cross-section fed between said rollers while the latter are rotated will have the edges thereof pressed together at spaced locations by said projections and the portions of the strip between the spaced locations are free to expand into said cavities to define blank forming portions connected by thin webs having their major axes parallel to said axis of rotation of the roller, a fixed curved guide extending along a portion of the periphery of one of said rollers and increasing in radial distance from the axis of rotation of said one roller in the direction of rotation of the latter, and means for progressively ejecting the blank forming portions of the strip from said cavities and against said guide, said guide having a terminal portion departing from the plane of rotation of said one roller so that each blank forming portion is bent relative to the portion next in line during travel along said terminal portion of the guide in the direction perpendicular to the major axis of the connecting web to tear the latter and thereby separate the successive blank forming portions.

2. Apparatus for continuously cutting a rectangular strip at spaced locations along the latter so that the volumes of material between the successive spaced locations provide blanks to be used in the forming of hollow bodies; said apparatus comprising two continuously rotated rollers having axially spaced peripheral flanges in planes perpendicular to the related axis of rotation and a series of wedge-shaped, circumferentially spaced partitions extendgated, radially opening cavities in the peripheries of the rollers which register at the point of tangency of the rollers, the axial spacing between the flanges of each roller being slightly greater than the thickness of the strip to be cut so that, as the strip is fed between the rotated rollers with the relatively wide surfaces of the rectangular strip disposed parallel to said planes of the flanges, the latter guide and position the strip relative to the rollers, the circumferential spacing between the successive wedgeshaped partitions of the rollers being equal to the distance between the spaced locations at which the strip is to be cut so that the relatively narrow edges of a rectangular strip fed between the rotated rollers are pinched together at the desired spaced locations, and the volumes of the cavities registering at said point of tangency of the rollers being greater than the Volumes of material for providing the desired blanks so that the volumes of material cut from the strip only incompletely fill said registering cavities to avoid molding of the material and to facilitate withdrawal of the blanks from between the parallel flanges and partitions defining the cavities.

3. A process for forming successive blanks to be used in the forming of hollow bodies therefrom; said process comprising continuously'rotating two rollers in rolling contact with each other and having radially opening cavities in the peripheries thereof which are circumferentially segregated by wedge-shaped peripheral portionshaving their thin outer edges extending axially, said cavities of the rollers registering at the point of tangency of the rollers, feeding a strip of rectangular cross-section between said rollers, said strip having relatively wide surfaces parallel to the plane of rotation of the rollersand rela tively narrow opposite edges connecting said surfaces and which are pressed together sequentially at spaccd'locations into thin webs by said peripheral portions between the cavities with the major axes of said webs extending normal to said surfaces of the strip, said rectangular crosssection of the strip being sufficiently small so that, after pressing together of said edges, blank forming portions between said spaced locations and connected together by said thin webs are entirely included in and only incompletely fill said cavities of the rollers thereby avoiding any waste of said strip, and bending each of said blank forming portions with respect to the blank forming portion next in line about an axis perpendicular to said major axis of the thin connecting web thereby to tear the latter and effect separation of the successive blank forming portions. 

